Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-09-18
OFFICE
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
SPECIAL AGENTS.

My knock was answered by an invi-
tation to enter, and l Iopened the door.
the room was similar to others in the
court house. 1t was lighted by one
small window, the little panes o1
glass in which were obscured by the
dust and cobwebs of many decade
The furniture consisted of an old
painted pine bedstead and a wooden
chair. A board resting upon two bar
rels served as q desk, and on it some
loose papers were scattered. A gun
stood in each of two corners of the
room, and upon the bedstead hung
two ammunition belts, we'll filled, to
which were attached some holsters
containing navy revolvers. Two rid
ing saddles with brides and pair OF
mule-harnesses lay in heap upon
the floor, and a barrel Of whisky and
several boxes OF tobacco were stand
ing near the door.
In the bed was a thin, sickly-look-
ing man, whose flushed face showed
that he was suffering from severe at
tack of fever and ague; and before the
fire built ON the hearth, was squatting
more robust fellow, brewing some
herb tea, the smoke from the green
wood filling the whole room. | at
once recognized these men as old
Washington acquaintances.
Their story was an entertaining one.
They had started from Washington to
catch the Alabama Ku Klux. In an
adjoining State they had purchased a
wagon and a pair of mules, a barrel
of whiskey and three or four boxes OF
tobacco. Removing all traces of the
payment of the internal revenue
taxes, they started out. They camped
each night near some village or cross
roads, and when the young fellows,
impelled by curiosity, came around
they treated them generously until
they got their tongues loosened. Then
the detectives would begin to boast of
their success in managing the negroes
in the "Old North State" explaining
how they cut down the Radical vote,
etc. Their object was to gain the con-
fidence of these young men, stimulate
their pride and tempt them to recount
their own exploits and boast of their
own spirit.
The plan bore no fruit until the de-
tectives reached the neighborhood of
the Ivy assassination. Ivy was the
name OF the colored mail agent whose
murder has been mentioned. They
had no difficulty in learning all the
particulars OF that affair. The train
had been tagged in a lonely place in
the woods, and as it came to a stop
and Ivy appeared at the door of his
car to learn the cause, two or three
men shot him from behind an en-
bankment. He fell inside the car,
and the train went on to Meridian
taking his body. The detectives
claimed to have evidence that the
murder was political one, but the
white people of Livingston and Sumter
county assigned other reasons.
The detectives remained in the vi
cinity several days, not disclosing
their identity, OF course; and then ar
rested two young men whom they
accused of being Ivy's murderers.
These were in Jail at Mobile, and
when l visited Livingston the detec-
tives were waiting for the preliminary
examinations before the United States
Commissioner. may as well add
here that the prisoners were held for
the action OF the grand jury in the
United States Court, but no indict-
ment was ever found. After that
time the detectives had no more busi-
ness in Alabama. They closed up
their "ofiice," sold their effects and
returned to Washington.
But the Ivy case was only one OF
dozen about which Northern newspa-
pers had much to say, but l spent a
week in making further inquiries.
They were fruitless. A few ex-
amples will suffice. 1t Was re-
ported that a "mail train"
had been stopped between Liv-
ingston and Belmont, and the mail
agent maltreated. There was no rail-
road between those two points; there
fore could be no "mail-train.p A negro
boy on mule carried the mail from
Livingston to Belmont once week.